On rathasapthami day, an orthodox Hindu should bathe his head and shoulders with arka leaves in propitiation of Surya (the sun).
— from Omens and Superstitions of Southern India by Edgar Thurston

There is no way, short of sheer power of speech, that so surely leads to the heart of an audience as rich, appropriate humor.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by J. Berg (Joseph Berg) Esenwein

She read on and on in the old book, devouring eagerly the dialogues with the invisible Teacher, the pattern of sorrow, the source of all strength; returning to it after she had been called away, and reading till the sun went down behind the willows.
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

“Still, what’s to prevent our searching the ship?” said Lycas, after he had expiated Tryphaena’s dream, “so that we will not be guilty of neglecting the revelations of Providence?”
— from The Satyricon — Complete by Petronius Arbiter

It is a prime example of the transition of a tool from Moxon to its perfected form in the 20th century: These Braces possess the following points of superiority: The Sweep is made from Steel; the Jaws are forged from Steel; the Wood Handle has brass rings inserted in each end so it cannot split off; the Chuck has a hardened Steel antifriction washer between the two sockets, thus reducing the wear.
— from Woodworking Tools 1600-1900 by Peter C. Welsh

‘Mr. Pickwick observed (says the secretary) that fame was dear to the heart of every man.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

She presses him hard; and clinging to him with every limb, as she holds fast, she says, “Struggle as thou mayst, perverse one, still thou shalt not escape.
— from The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII by Ovid

Every virtue inclines to stupidity, every stupidity to virtue; "stupid to the point of sanctity," they say in Russia,—let us be careful lest out of pure honesty we eventually become saints and bores!
— from Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Occasionally he said to himself, “Perhaps I am mistaken after all, for fancy is a bad pair of spectacles to see through.
— from The Champdoce Mystery by Emile Gaboriau

A body of Belgian cavalry advanced for the same purpose, but on passing our square, they stopped short.
— from The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: from Marathon to Waterloo by Creasy, Edward Shepherd, Sir

We were expecting another visit from the Kent for the purpose of searching the ship, and Jehangir said he would not like the literature to fall into the hands of the Kent party.
— from Fighting Germany's Spies by French Strother

De Garlande, Bishop of Orleans, became so odious to his clergy that they sent a complaint against him to Pope Alexander III., concluding: "Let your apostolical hands put on strength to strip naked the iniquity of this man, that the curse prognosticated on the day of his consecration may overtake him; for, the gospel being opened [Pg 364] according to custom, the first words that appeared were: 'And the young man, leaving his linen cloth, fled from them naked.'"
— from The Mysteries of All Nations Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together with Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales by James (Archaeologist) Grant

But when they were come to the old monument that stood over against the Hill Lucre, to wit, to the pillar of salt that stood also within view of Sodom and its stinking lake; they marveled, as did Christian before, that men of that knowledge and ripeness of wit, as they were, should be so blinded as to turn aside here.
— from Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 by John Bunyan

But whatever the beginning is, whether a classic myth, a Homeric epic, a play of Sophocles, the story of the life and death of Socrates, a mediaeval legend, or any genuine piece of literature from the time of Virgil down to our own, it may not so much matter (except that it is better to begin with the ancients in order to gain a proper perspective) whatever the beginning is, it should be the best literature.
— from The Novel and the Common School by Charles Dudley Warner

It has the property of softening the silver, and bringing it to a state in which it is very susceptible of being either oxidized or iodized, hence it contributes to increase the sensibility of the plate.
— from American Hand Book of the Daguerreotype by S. D. (Samuel Dwight) Humphrey

But the people only shrugged their shoulders even when they heard—as did also the guards and the gentlemen-in-waiting, the underlings and the very porters at the Palace gates.
— from Joan of the Sword Hand by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

It is the pang of separation that spreads throughout the world and gives birth to shapes innumerable in the infinite sky.
— from Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore

That is why, in the presence of such things she grows troubled, and descends with pleasure.
— from Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1 In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four Periods by Plotinus